משנה: הַמּוֹשִׁיב אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ חֶנְװָנִית אוֹ שֶׁמִּינָּהּ אֶפִּיטְרוֹפְּיָא הֲרֵי זֶה מַשְׁבִּיעָהּ כָּל־זְמָן שֶׁיִּרְצֶה. רִבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר אֲפִילוּ עַל פִּילְכָּהּ וְעַל עִיסָּתָהּ. MISHNAH: If somebody engages his wife as grocer or appoints her as steward115To administer his properties. The word is the feminine form to masc. Greek ἐπίτροπος; cf. Mishnah Bikkurim 1:5., he can make her swear any time he wants116That her accounts are honest.. Rebbi Eliezer says, even about her distaff and her dough117R. Eliezer disagrees with the anonymous Tanna and holds that the husband can make his wife swear that she did not take anything for herself from any domestic work she performed for him. (The Babli, 86b, is unsure whether R. Eliezer disagrees with the anonymous Tanna or holds that if the wife handles large sums of money, the husband can also make her swear on minutiae. In the latter version, the rabbis hold that a wife would rather want a divorce than be married to such a nitpicker.).
הלכה: הַמּוֹשִׁיב אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ חֶנְװָנִית כול׳. יְאוּת אָמַר רִבִּי לִיעֶזֶר. מַה טַעֲמוֹן דְּרַבָּנִין. אִם אוֹמֵר אַתְּ כֵּן אֵין שָׁלוֹם בְּתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ לְעוֹלָם. שִׁיבְּרָה אֶת הַכֵּלִים מֵה אַתְּ עֲבַד לָהּ. כְּשׁוֹמֶרֶת חִנָּם אוֹ כְשׁוֹמֶרֶת שָׂכָר. מִסְתַּבְּרָא מֵיעַבְדִּינָהּ כְּשׁוֹמֶרֶת שָׂכָר. אָֽמְרִין. אֲפִילוּ כְשׁוֹמֶרֶת חִנָּם אֵינָהּ. אִם אוֹמֵר אַתְּ כֵּן אֵין שָׁלוֹם בְּתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ לְעוֹלָם. HALAKHAH: “If somebody engages his wife as grocer,” etc. Is Rebbi Eliezer not correct? What is the rabbis’ reason118Why do the rabbis permit the husband to make his wife swear only if she is entrusted with large sums of money? What is the difference between a business account and household money? In the Babli, 86b, the rabbis hold that a man who cannot trust his wife with household money should divorce her since “nobody lives with a snake in the same basket.”? If you say so, there never would be peace in his house. If she broke vessels119In the course of regular household duties., is she responsible as an unpaid or a paid trustee120The legal categories are defined in terms of shepherds, to agree with the biblical verses. Mishnah Baba meṣi‘a 7:8, Šebuot 8:1: “There are four kinds of responsible people: Unpaid and paid watchmen, the borrower and the lessee. The unpaid watchman swears about everything (which is missing or broken, that it is not by his fault); the borrower pays for everything; the paid trustee and the lessee swear about broken, robbed, or dead (animals) and pay for what was lost or stolen (for if an animal is lost or stolen it is their fault since it was not guarded correctly.)”
If the wife were an unpaid trustee, she would have to pay for the damage unless she can swear that it was not her fault. The same holds for the paid trustee except that she would have to pay for inattention.? It would be reasonable to consider her a paid trustee. They said, she is not even an unpaid trustee, for if you say so, there never would be peace in his house121The wife never pays for broken dishes..